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On August 18th, Brett LaSala of Motion Raceworks revealed he was officially parting ways with one of the fastest drag and drive cars of all time, his Coyote-powered Mustang that is affectionately dubbed Snot Rocket 2.0 for its Gotta Have It Green hue. It was the second evolution of LaSala’s twin-turbo combination, graduating from the stock-style suspension (we covered in 2021) to a 25.2 NHRA-certified chassis with a 4-link, carbon floors and tubs. The Mustang raised eyebrows for not only going 6.26 at 227mph, but doing it in a full-bodied S197 chassis (not a Pro Mod).
“This current chassis, although perfect-working and dialed-in, is not legal to a 5.99 or faster and doing so would require redoing it completely,” stated LaSala in his for sale post. “This chassis went 3.99 at 188 earlier this year in drag and drive trim…with the ability to go 1.04 to the 60-foot.”
SR 2.0 went 1.04 sixty-foot and 3.99 at 188mph in the 1/8-mile as well as a 6.26 at 227mph in the 1/4 mile. Can the SR 3.0 go 5.99? Time will tell.
Unsurprisingly, the rolling chassis didn’t last a day on the open market. LaSala stated that the motor, trans, headers, and ECU would all be transferred to the new car. But what, pray tell, could he be building?
Pretty soon Moore Race Chassis in St. Louis, MO started leaking photos of a black S197 with a great deal of metal removed. Moore is well known in the drag and drive scene for its digital-camo-wrapped Fox-body that runs mid-4s in the eighth-mile as well as its fully-welded chassis and cage kits.
The S197 is an interesting choice for drag racing. The 107-inch wheelbase is much longer than the SN95 (101-inch) and Fox (100-inch) chassis, but with even worse weight distribution and balance than its later (but equally long) S550 counterpart. But clearly LaSala has it figured out and feels like it gives him an advantage, so why change?
We reached out to Brett LaSala for comment on his new car… “It’s basically the same car but a different chassis. We are transferring over the same engine, transmission, turbo kit, and wiring. It’s a 25.1 that was built from the ground-up on a chassis table with a four-link by Moore Race Chassis. We are using a Merillat housing again and the same front spindle with Santuff struts. The rear has a Penske shock with a different length than before.”
LaSala also said we could expect a full reveal of the new car soon, but one aspect that caught our attention was the change to the SFI 25.1 chassis certification. In order to get faster, he actually needs to get lighter for safety (not just for e.t. savings from the weight itself). The biggest difference between SFI 25.2 and SFI 25.1 is the maximum weight (3,200 vs. 2,800 lbs). According to NHRA inspector and Dragzine contributor Eddie Maloney, there are actually more bars in a 25.2 to account for the extra weight.
SFI Spec 25.1K: Full Bodied Car Tube Chassis – 7.49 Seconds & Quicker; 2,800 lbs. Maximum -SFI Foundation
The change in weight means LaSala is officially moving to the Unlimited Class at all drag and drive events. “We are going for overall fastest, so we might as well be in that class anyways. We went a 6.34 average before and there are no definite’s in running 5s. But we know what we did in the 1/8-mile with the old chassis and that would translate to the faster 1/4 times. Our goal is to be a couple hundred pounds lighter, plus we have a few new things with the engines and turbos we are trying as well as aero and body work.”
How much could possibly be left in the Coyote platform? Well, consider this: he’s still using a factory block. “Joe at Fast Forward changed the piston and main cap design a little, and we are going to push this further before moving to a billet block. We have never broke a stock block, but we see things moving around and know we are approaching the line. Since weight is so crucial at this level the billet is the only other option for us.”
When LaSala does his official reveal soon, you can expect to hear that he will be working with the same partners – such as Precision Turbo, Fast Forward Racing Engines, and Motion Raceworks – that made him so successful to this point. And my hunch is it, too, will adorn its trademark green hue.
Here’s to breaking that six-second barrier!
